I live in PA now but I used to live in MD and I sympathize with those who still reside in MD and have to deal with MD's firearm laws. I purchased an AMD 63 from Classic Firearms recently and was thinking about it and looking up MD gun laws. I know AKs and all copies are banned by the 2013 law. I was wondering what they consider a copy though. Here is a quote from the MSP website regarding what constitutes a copy.
"The Maryland State Police is responsible for reaching its own conclusions with respect to whether particular firearms are copies of enumerated banned firearms. In reaching those conclusions, the Maryland State Police adheres to the process articulated in the Firearms Bulletin #10-2 dated November 4, 2010 a copy of which may be found on our website. To that end, the Maryland State Police has determined that, for enforcement purposes, a firearm is considered a copy if it is both cosmetically similar to and has completely interchangeable internal components necessary for the full operation and function of one of the enumerated banned weapons." http://mdsp.maryland.gov/Organization/Pages/CriminalInvestigationBureau/LicensingDivision/Firearms/FirearmSearch.aspx
The AMD 63 uses a different length gas piston than a regular AK. It is not interchangeable. The AMD piston is about an inch shorter than a standard AK piston. So wouldn't that mean that the AMD 63 would be MD legal? I know the AMD 65 with the folding stock might not be because it also has a muzzle device, even though it is a compensator and not a flash hider. The AMD 63 has the fixed stock so it should be OK. I guess you would have to make sure it didn't come with the standard 30 round mag as well but that would be an easy fix. Again, I'm just throwing this out there in the hope it might help some gun enthusiasts obtain the firearms they want to shoot. Below I will post a picture of the AMD 63 and a link to Classic Firearms if anyone wants to investigate this further.
https://www.classicfirearms.com/amd-63-7-62x39-rifle-with-solid-stock-phoenix-stock-type2
"The Maryland State Police is responsible for reaching its own conclusions with respect to whether particular firearms are copies of enumerated banned firearms. In reaching those conclusions, the Maryland State Police adheres to the process articulated in the Firearms Bulletin #10-2 dated November 4, 2010 a copy of which may be found on our website. To that end, the Maryland State Police has determined that, for enforcement purposes, a firearm is considered a copy if it is both cosmetically similar to and has completely interchangeable internal components necessary for the full operation and function of one of the enumerated banned weapons." http://mdsp.maryland.gov/Organization/Pages/CriminalInvestigationBureau/LicensingDivision/Firearms/FirearmSearch.aspx
The AMD 63 uses a different length gas piston than a regular AK. It is not interchangeable. The AMD piston is about an inch shorter than a standard AK piston. So wouldn't that mean that the AMD 63 would be MD legal? I know the AMD 65 with the folding stock might not be because it also has a muzzle device, even though it is a compensator and not a flash hider. The AMD 63 has the fixed stock so it should be OK. I guess you would have to make sure it didn't come with the standard 30 round mag as well but that would be an easy fix. Again, I'm just throwing this out there in the hope it might help some gun enthusiasts obtain the firearms they want to shoot. Below I will post a picture of the AMD 63 and a link to Classic Firearms if anyone wants to investigate this further.
https://www.classicfirearms.com/amd-63-7-62x39-rifle-with-solid-stock-phoenix-stock-type2
